Mentions of the song begin to appear in the 1920s, suggesting an increased popularity during World War I. The earliest I have found is in a report on nightlife on the Left Bank pf Paris in the "Evansville [Ind.] Courier and Press: (June 10, 1923):

“Perhaps Nina Hamnett, who has belonged to Montparnasse ever since she deserted Augustus John's group at the cafe Royal in London, was there and sang ‘The Fire Ship,’ the refrain of which is ‘She’s a Nice Girl, a Decent Girl, but One of the Rakish Kind.’”

The Welsh artist Nina Hamnett was an enthusiast of sea songs.

An article in the Brisbane, Australia, "Truth" (Dec. 23, 1923) about the kindness of streetwalkers to children, included the following fragment:

"Young man, she said, excuse me for being out so late,
For if my parents heard of it then sad would be my fate,
My father is a clergyman and a very pious man,
My mother is a Methodist, but I do the best I can.

"It was a dark and stormy night,                                          And her hair hung down to her waistline,
She was a nice girl, a decent girl,
And one of the roving kind."

This is the only pre-Guy Mitchell instance of "roving" rather than the usual "rakish."